Doesn’t sound like it’s the start of a rebuild that many fans want, but the Vancouver Canucks are open for business in the trade market.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman is reporting that, according to several of his sources, the Canucks are listening to trade offers on “veteran players” in an effort to get younger.
It also doesn’t sound like Quinn Hughes or Filip Hronek are on the trade block, per Friedman’s report, so we’ll turn our attention to other veterans that could be in play.
Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, Jake DeBrusk, Marcus Pettersson, Tyler Myers, and Kevin Lankinen all have full no-movement clauses, so they would each need to sign off on a potential trade.
Evander Kane, who has a modified no-trade clause, and Kiefer Sherwood are both pending unrestricted free agents.
Conor Garland and Drew O’Connor (modified no-trade clause) each have term left on their contracts, and don’t have trade protection. Garland’s name was already in trade rumours, reportedly in an effort to acquire a second-line centre.
Thatcher Demko, Filip Chytil, Teddy Blueger, and Nils Höglander are all currently injured.
While this may not be the start of a rebuild, the fact that the Canucks are reportedly trying to get younger does seem notable.
This season was supposed to be all about returning to the playoffs in an effort to convince Hughes to sign a contract extension. But Vancouver currently has the third-worst record in the NHL. They’re currently closer to dead-last in the league (four points) than they are to a playoff spot (seven points).
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